Secret Santa Marinette Style
by deijnar
Summary: Marinette plans a special Secret Santa with her best friends and starts its preparations 2 months early because of course the christmas spirit hits her as soon as November starts. Her unstoppable excitement also attracts a certain hero of Paris who ends up growing closer and closer to her over the weeks before christmas. (edited fanfiction from last year)
1. Last day of October

"Do you remember how I told you about my mom being so happy about the twin's grades that she got way too high-spirited and granted them a wish? And that, and I quote: 'they could wish for whatever they want, no matter what it is'?" As Alya spoke a weird mix of distress and excitement flared in her eyes, causing her best friend to raise a curious but not any less amused eyebrow.

"Yeah, I remember. Part of the reason she was so overwhelmed was the fact that your grades were pretty bad because of all the time you spent on the Ladyblog, wasn't it?" Marinette grinned whimsically at her counterpart.

"That's not the point, Marinette!" Alya pouted and folded her arms in front of her chest, refusing to tell her the rest of the story. Yet she couldn't keep her act up for too long since she longed to break the news to her best friend more than anything. "Anyway, listen to me instead of teasing me!" She lightly hit Marinette's shoulder and giggled.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to offend you. What did you want to tell me?" Marinette backtracked, the smirk not yet banned from her face.

Feeling quite noble Alya continued with a satisfied nod. "Well, since this fateful day my parents and I lived in a constant fear of what could possibly come up to us. What can I say, they finally decided what they wish for."

That was kind of a turn of events for Marinette as she had witnessed the two girls having debates about this going on for hours. "Wow, I thought those little monsters would never come to an understanding. So what do they want?" Curiously she looked at Alya who kept silent, clearly punishing her for her previous banter. "Come on, tell me already! What is it? The table tennis table? Or, my personal favorite, the trampoline?" Marinette begged to know and willing to finally proclaim Alya gave her a resigned look.

"Neither. Somehow they came up with another, completely new and different idea." She sighed. "They want a cat."

Adrien's head literally popped out of nowhere. "So it's true!" Surprised Marinette blinked at her crush who suddenly stood beside her. "Your family is bringing an unbelievably cute kitten to your house at this very moment!"

Befuddled Alya looked at him in confusion. "Not exactly. My siblings are too young and my parents and I too busy to care for a little kitten with a lot of needs. They're adopting a cat that's already grown a little."

"Still adorable" Adrien's eyes began to glisten with joy as he dreamily looked into the distance.

After getting over his cuteness, which took her nearly twenty seconds, Marinette pointed at him. "How does he know?"

Alya shrugged. "Nino I guess."

In indignant disbelief Marinette looked at her. "Wait, you told Nino before you told me?"

Alya rolled her eyes at her best friend when she answered. "Sure, duh. You were gone throughout all of lunch, remember?"

Beginning to blush Marinette sheepishly lowered her head and remembered the akuma attack she fought down with Chat Noir earlier "Uhm… You're right. Sorry?"

With a smirk Alya waved it off. "Don't sweat it, girl. Hey, you guys wanna hang out next week to get to know our newest family member? I think she needs some time to acclimatize before she meets so many people at once but it should be fine in a few days, as long as you're cautious."

Loving the idea Marinette began to smile brightly. "You betcha! A-Adrien, d-do you wa-" as she turned to face him she had to laugh at the view she gained. Obviously overjoyed Adrien was nodding aggressively, face slightly red.

"Who could say no to a kitten?" Nino asked as he joined the scene and patted his best friend's back. "Calm down man or you may pass out because of anticipation."

"Kitty!" was all Adrien managed to blurt out through his compressed lips causing his friends to bubble over with laughter. The bell rang and they headed to class, the other three still amused while Adrien blushed embarrassed.

* * *

After school Nino and Alya had to leave right away for whatever reason they didn't want to reveal so Marinette ended up waiting for his drive home next to Adrien. Paralyzed she rapidly thought about any topic to talk about to distract herself from just staring at him. But Adrien beat her at starting a conversation, still smiling dreamily at a point in the distance that wasn't really there. "I bet Alya rushed home to see her cat."

"You're really that excited over a random cat of a classmate?" Marinette asked him astonished and he looked down timidly.

"Yeah… Well, as you know I was homeschooled and never had many friends besides Chloé. I wanted a pet since forever and cats have always been my favorite but obviously my father didn't approve. It's kind of a childhood dream coming true, even if it's happening to someone else... You know what I mean?" He laughed nervously but Marinette's genuine smile banished all of his bashfulness.

"Yes, I… I think I understand." For a moment they just stood there and smiled at each other before Marinette continued to speak. "I have to say that I really admire you - no! I- I mean that I admire you for being happy for Ella and Etta. I mean, like, instead of getting jealous and being cruel or something. You're awesome. Uhm, I mean, that's awesome!" He couldn't help but blush over such an unexpected compliment, especially because it was about his character and not his looks for once. He was so touched that he barely noticed her stuttering.

"Thanks, Marinette. You know," he beamed at her "I'm super glad we're friends."

Now it was Marinette's turn to blush and before she managed to respond a shining car drove around the corner and Adrien waved his goodbye at her. "See you tomorrow!"

She still looked down the road after the car was long gone.


	2. First week of November

"Okay guys, I _need_ to talk to you after school. _All_ of you."

Surprised by Marinette's serious words as a greeting instead of her usual warm hugs her friends looked at her. "Something's up girl?" Alya asked worried but Marinette just shook her head.

"After school!" she repeated and headed to class without any other word.

"Oh man, did we do something?" Nino looked at Marinette's back in concern and then at his other two confused friends.

"She was alright just yesterday..." Adrien replied, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

"What did you say to her when we were gone?!" Punching his arm Alya threw an angry glare at him.

"Ouch! Nothing! …I guess." His assailant just bristled with anger in response and followed Marinette to class.

"Dude, I hope you didn't screw up too bad" Nino said while putting one hand on Adrien's shoulder and grabbed the peak of his cap with the other.

"I didn't even do anything!" Adrien cried in despair but Nino just gave him a pitying look and squeezed his shoulder.

"Maybe that's the problem." And with that Adrien stood in the halls alone, no idea what he possibly could have done to cause such a situation.

* * *

Turned out they were just messing with him.

After the bell rang to free the students into a beautiful autumn afternoon Adrien stepped out of the school building and spotted Marinette who looked perfectly happy. Relieved he headed towards her, Nino and Alya who also seemed pretty glad it wasn't a severe situation after all.

Buzzing with anticipation Marinette jigged in front of her three closest friends. "It is November guys!" she finally squealed with glee and a thrilled beam on her lips.

"It certainly is" Alya agreed smiling fondly. Every time Marinette got so excited over something Alya loved her even more than usually. Her overwhelming joy also infected the two boys standing next to them, although they had no idea what caused Marinette to reach that level of enthusiasm.

"Man, you must have some great plans to get that hooked about a month like any other." Nino whistled impressed.

"It's not a month like any other!" Marinette disagreed indignantly as if he'd just insulted her. "It's the month before December!" she stated, stamping her foot.

"Riiiight…" he tilted his head and mystifyingly narrowed his eyes. Adrien laughed.

"Could you please bring back the overjoyed Marinette? I have to say I liked her way more than huffy Marinette to be honest." Carefully he reached out his hand to open the fist Marinette clenched without noticing it.

"S-Sure..." was everything she was able to mumble into her scarf, glad that she could hide her blush behind it. Nino and Alya exchanged a knowing look. "Back to business!" she continued in a cheerful tone again as she managed to regain her voice shortly after Adrien had let go of her hand. "What I wanted to say is that... it's Secret Santa time!"

Adrien's eyes promptly began to glisten, causing Marinette's heart to jump. He also liked one of her favorite things in the world! Nino's face brightened up immediately too and Alya clapped her hands in delight.

"That's a great idea, Marinette! But… I've never done such a thing. How exactly does it work?" Ashamed Adrien looked down to the ground where he drew circles with the tip of his toes to avoid looking at his friends who sure had done such things every year.

"Well, _normal_ groups of people draw a partner by lot in December and buy them a present for Christmas." Alya explained to Adrien, showing him that he had no reason to be embarrassed. "But I guess Secret Santa in Marinette Style™ is quite different?" she added, questioningly looking at her best friend.

"You're absolutely right!" said friend answered and grinned back. "We all get our so called 'giftee' assigned at the beginning of November - means today, right here and now - so that we have enough time to prepare. Given that Secret Santa Marinette Style™ is a little more complex and has some strict rules you'll definitely need that time!"

"I am kind of terrified" Nino confessed playfully frightened but Marinette just laughed it off.

"Don't be! Actually it's pretty simple. You're supposed to make four gifts instead of just one, secretly delivering them one by one every week of December. The fourth one is ought to be opened on Christmas Eve, obviously. And most importantly, every gift has to be self-made!"

Adrien's eyes widened in shock. "How am I supposed to _do_ that?"

Marinette's smile grew even bigger though nobody would have guessed that something like this would be possible. "We have some cute christmas angels who are willing to assist us!" She waved at someone behind Adrien and as he turned around he saw Rose waving back while Juleka took her hand and dragged her towards the group.

"Hey guys!" Rose chirped happily, not letting go of Juleka's hand even though they had already reached their destiny. "We'll help you deliver your presents!"

"Yeah. Just hand us the gifts every week and we'll make sure they'll end up with the right human" Juleka explained with a smile on her face.

While Nino and Alya were performing some sort of cute jig of glee together Adrien looked at the two girls in front of him in concern. "And you're ok with that? I mean, helping us but not participating yourself?"

"Sure! I had to experience a lot of Secret Santa rounds already. I'm kinda glad I don't have to do it again this year" Juleka sighed and he would have sworn he saw her shiver a little at the words 'Secret Santa'.

"That's true!" Rose nodded in agreement, still smiling brighter than the sun. "Juleka is everything I need anyway!" she added happily.

The world suddenly seemed to freeze. Alya and Nino immediately stopped in their tracks, Adrien and Marinette stood thunderstruck and everyone's glances flew between Rose and Juleka and their still touching hands.

"Oops. Dropped it" Rose laughed nervously while Juleka hid her face behind her free, gloved hand.

Before the silence could turn awkward Alya pointed her finger at Marinette with a triumphal smile on her face and declared "Told ya!"

Marinette giggled with joy. "This day is getting better and better!"

Placing her hands on Juleka's shoulders Rose sheepishly smiled at her classmates. "I guess we'll leave now or Juleka will melt on the spot. Please keep it to yourselves!"

"Of course we'll still be your errand girls" Juleka mumbled as Rose pushed her towards the school building.

"Nice!" Nino simply stated watching them leave and then turned back to Marinette as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "Is that everything we need to know?" Before she answered his question Marinette made sure through eye contact that Alya felt the same urge to freak out about what they had just witnessed later.

"Nope, you don't even know the best part yet!" She went silent for a moment to raise the tension. Looking into her friend's eyes told her that it worked. "In the end you have to guess who your Secret Santa is and deluge them with all the love you have!" She bounced like an excited toddler on, well, christmas, causing her pigtails to bounce.

Alya chuckled as she put an arm around her shoulders. "Typical Marinette. Being the love spreading angel she has always been."

"Shh! The drawing begins at this very moment!" Marinette hurried to say to hide her flattered embarrassment. The attempt failed.

"As you wish" Alya tousled her hair before letting go of her with an affectionate smile on her lips. Marinette smiled back with still a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Nino, give me your hat!" Marinette reached her hand out towards him.

"Of course, Your Highness." Nino handed her his red cap while making a bow and she curtsied with a giggle as she took it. Reflexively she inspected it from every possible angle.

"By the way, you should definitely exchange this with a beanie to avoid catching a cold" she warned him but he just shrugged.

"Nah. I have my headphones keeping my ears warm, I'm fine. Thanks for worrying though."

"I hope that's true." Suspiciously she glanced at him but decided to leave it there. Rather than starting a discussion about her friend's valuable health she threw the four sheets of paper with their names on them she had prepared earlier into his hat. "Ladies first!" she said with a roguish grin on her face as she held it up to Nino.

"Very funny." He rolled his eyes, unable to bite back a grin as he reached out his hand. But at his comment Marinette pulled the hat back down with a playful snort.

"Tz, if you don't want to go first I won't force you to do it!" Instead she handed the cap to Alya who grinned and grabbed the first slip of paper.

"Whoops, got myself" she said apologetically and put the paper back into the hat.

"Try again!" Marinette encouraged her, nearly smacking the hat into her face. Amused Alya took a step back, chose a new one and rolled her eyes at it the moment she read it.

"Seriously? Again?" The other three laughed as Alya tried her luck a third time.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she gladly smiled at the name. "Got one!" Victoriously she waved with her piece of paper.

"Great! In that case I'm giving Nino the opportunity to draw next!" Turning back to him again she smirked at an impatient Nino.

"You're too kind!" Sincerely delighted he took his turn and scanned the name then nodded perfectly satisfied "Nice."

Slowly Marinette turned to the remaining participant, trying very hard not to blush too intensely. "Okay. A-Adrien it's finally your…" Before she could finish her sentence Adrien gently pushed the hat towards her.

"You go first, Marinette. It was your idea and you put so much effort into it, you should at least have a choice." His kind smile made her legs shaky and pretty useless. She shyly smiled back at him as she chose one of the last two names.

 _Nino_.

Wondering if she should be relieved or disappointed about the fact that it wasn't showing Adrien's name was quickly replaced by tons of present ideas for the upcoming musician.

"Okay then! It's my turn!" Curious Adrien reached out for the last name. For a brief moment Marinette was afraid that he still could have ended up with his own name and they all had to try all over again but as he unfolded the small white paper he began to smile widely. "Awesome! This is going to be so great."

Sheepishly Nino cleared his throat and looked at them with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry guys but I have to leave now. I have to discuss our new physics project with Kim, wish me luck he doesn't turn it into a dare. See ya!" He waved at them as he walked away and Alya caught him clenching his fist and cutting a caper. Her buzzing phone interrupted her smiling shake of the head.

"Mom? Hey, what's up?" She quickly turned to Marinette and Adrien "Sorry guys, I'll be right back!" With that she took a few steps away from them.

While Alya talked to her mother Adrien worked up all his courage and hesitantly approached Marinette. This was possibly his only chance if he didn't want to confess his weakness to all of his friends. "Uhm, Marinette?" he tapped her on the shoulder so she would face him.

"Yes Adrien?" she turned around and looked up to him. The unprepared sight of his heavenly green eyes made her heart skip some beats.

"You know… When I asked how I was supposed 'to do that'" he drew quotation marks into the air in front of her face, "I didn't mean the secret delivery thing but the rule that everything has to be self-made. I'm… I'm pretty bad with those things." Nervously he averted his gaze and scratched the back of his head.

Marinette's eyes widened. _You stupid little goopy mess!_ , she thought, wanting to slap herself. Making Adrien feel incapable and uncomfortable was the last thing she had intended.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Sometimes I kind of forget that not all people do the same stuff as I do" she laughed awkwardly and lapsed into babbling. "I guess I kind of threw you in at the deep end, didn't I? But don't worry. Until you don't tell me who it is I will help you and teach you a thing or two about handicrafts if you want me to and I'm convinced you're better at it than you think! And I'm certain we will find another conclusion for you, I mean, it should be fun for all of us after all, right? Right, of course. Uhm, what I want to say is your giftee, whoever it might be, can and will be glad about the fact that they-"

Adrien burst out into a genuine laugh that calmed Marinette down a little as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "I didn't mean to make you feel guilty, there's no need to get nervous about this. I'd like to take your offer to help me as soon as I need it which, let's be honest about this, won't take too long. Thank you Marinette, I actually feel a lot better now!" She returned his warm smile although she had no idea how her absurd chattiness would help anyone.

Eventually Adrien looked down at his watch and his eyes widened. "Oh no… Unfortunately I have to leave now but it looks like Alya finished talking to her mom." Even though he seemed to be late for something he took the time to smile at Marinette and waved at her as he headed towards the street. "See you tomorrow! Bye Alya!"

"Bye Adrien" Alya waved at Adrien as she passed him on her way back to Marinette. "You were that excited over this whole Secret Santa thing that it even distracted you from acting weird and awkward in front of Adrien. It must truly be a Christmas miracle!" she gasped excessively.

"You are a horrible person, Alya Césaire" Marinette laughed and linked arms with her best friend.

"But seriously" Alya smiled and nudged Marinette's shoulder with her own "I'm proud of you."

* * *

For the next few days Marinette was caught in a relentless battle against her own self. Of course she could just change the rules entirely so Adrien wouldn't have to struggle too much with the crafting and allow him to buy everything instead. But then it wouldn't be Secret Santa Marinette Style™ anymore and if her parents drummed one lesson into their daughter it was that "amazing girls like you should never and under no circumstances change for a boy who simply couldn't handle their brilliance".

Thus changing the rules wasn't an option.

Another voice in her head tried to seduce her to take advantage of the situation and spend as much time with Adrien as possible under the pretext of showing him a thing or two about handicraft work. Marinette had to admit that she liked that idea a little too much but knowing herself she would just lose control over herself and screw both of her purposes – resisting the impulse to encroach on Adrien's projects (in that case it wouldn't be Secret Santa Marinette Style™ in Adrien Style anymore) and, even more importantly, acting like a decent human being around him.

 _So what should I do?!_

Marinette groaned and tore her hair. "Seriously Marinette, you have to stop to treat yourself like a sinner for wanting to spend time with Adrien." Alya shook her head at Marinette's inner conflict. She may not have said anything for a while but Alya knew exactly what was going on behind those bangs.

"So I'm not a terrible person for considering exploiting Adrien's lack of knowledge?" Marinette, by now a picture of complete misery lying on her desk, mumbled into the crook of her arm.

"Get a grip on your unnecessary feeling of guilt, girl! May I remind you that Adrien Agreste himself suggested that you should teach him that stuff? In fact I would go as far as to say that he asked for your help and it would be very cold-hearted of you to refuse his request."

Slowly Marinette straightened up and Alya smirked proudly to herself. "If you put it that way I am obligated to help Adrien…" Pondering Marinette stared at a poster on her wall, straight into a pair of enchanting green eyes.

"Exactly." While patting her best friend on the shoulder Alya decided to get a pastry from the bakery below as a reward for the good deed she had just performed.


	3. Second week of November

"Okay guys, new rule!" Marinette opened the _Secret Santa Emergency Meeting_ at lunch with a determined smack on the table. Shocked Adrien stared up at her while Nino next to him squealed in absolute horror.

"Even more rules?"

Laughing Marinette quickly calmed them down. "Don't worry, it actually makes the whole thing kind of easier: Everyone gets a joker! That means I allow you to buy one, but really only one, of the presents instead of crafting it." She cheerfully winked at Adrien who thankfully smiled at her. "Obviously I'm not going to make use of said rule myself" she continued and playfully threw her hair over her shoulder. "That's a point of honor."

"Guess I'm not as honorable as you are. I'll definitely buy something! Thanks girl, that makes it even easier for me to deliver the best presents out of this group." Confident as always Alya put an arm around Marinette's shoulders and looked at the boys with a challenging smirk on her lips. "What about you guys? What do your egos say?"

A resolute expression appeared on Nino's face as he answered completely serious: "I will do this on my own. I will accept the challenge of creating four... somethings with my own hands and I will conquer it, I know I can do it!" He ended in an epic pose with a clenched fist raised towards the sky. Impressed Adrien clapped him on the back while the girls suppressed their giggles.

With a resigned smile Adrien looked at Marinette. "I'll desperately need that joker. Thanks for changing the rules for us, I know how much you liked your original idea."

As always when Adrien directly addressed her Marinette flushed and started to stutter a little. "Oh, uhm… no worries! It will be fun. I-I mean, it will be a lot of fun anyways!"

Gladly Adrien smiled at her and her knees weakened. "I'm happy to hear that. I'll do my very best for you guys."

Before Marinette could respond something to that cute statement Alya cut in. "Hate to interrupt but I have to go. And I'll take Nino with me, just because I can." Surprised by the unexpected grip around his arm and the enormous force behind it Nino defenselessly followed Alya out of the room.

Sheepishly Adrien smiled at Marinette and scratched the back of his head. "So… do you still agree with helping me out? Otherwise I'd have to pay you to grant me three more jokers." He laughed nervously, only partly meaning it as a joke. But Marinette's genuine smile calmed him down immediately.

"Sure I will, I always keep my word" she responded kindly and gained an even softer smile from her counterpart. "Besides," she nudged his shoulder with her own, "I can't allow you to mistreat Secret Santa Marinette Style™ like that and corrupt me." His genuine laugh warmed her whole body, giving her the confirmation that it was worth the effort to act like a sane person around him.

"With that being settled, would you meet up with me tomorrow to brainstorm a little? I really don't want to screw this up so… I think it would be best to get down to it as soon as possible" Adrien suggested still a little insecure and Marinette could only smile entranced by how sweet he was.

"Sure! I'll think about something easy to show you."

As a reward she gained another happy smile. "Thank you so much, Marinette! I have to go get my books before class starts now but we'll see each other later, right? Or tomorrow at my place at the latest!" Not even waiting for her response he waved at her as he walked out of the room, leaving behind a startled Marinette.

She would visit _Adrien's house._ The house that also happened to be the home of _Gabriel Agreste_ , the most talented and popular designer in all of Paris, if not entire France. She would set foot into _her biggest idol's house_!

If it wouldn't have been for Max who asked her why she was just standing in the middle of the room staring at the door she would have been late for class once again.

* * *

After school Marinette headed to her favorite art supply store to get some materials she needed for the presents she'd come up with and to get something for Adrien to practice with. It was a beautiful, clear autumn day and on her way there she enjoyed the colorful trees surrounding her and the light breezes playing with her hair. Just as she was about to reach the store's entrance she closed her eyes, took a deep breath of the fresh air and immediately bumped into someone.

"Oh my god, excuse me, I wasn't…" The words died on her lips as she looked into a pair of amused, green eyes.

"Princesses don't need to apologize" Chat Noir said before placing a kiss on her hand he was suddenly holding. "Not even if they're clumsy."

Perplexed by the unexpected encounter with her partner Marinette looked up at him in silence for a few seconds before she finally managed to say something. "Chat Noir? What are _you_ doing here? Is there a needle-swinging akuma around or anything?" she jested, too surprised to realize that Chat began to fidget nervously.

"Uhm, a friend of mine recommended the shop to me since I needed something to… do… uh… certain heroic things with, yes. But what are you doing here? I thought princesses have servants to handle those things for them. Don't tell me…" he gasped. "You're not a real princess?!"

Marinette rolled her eyes but giggled. Maybe she would have been suspicious of his behavior if she wouldn't have been that confused herself, so she only ascribed it to his usual quirkiness and grinned at him. "I'm fine on my own, thank you. Also, if your friend recommended this shop to you, they must have a pretty good taste! I like that one very much too."

"I'm sure the sense of beauty of such a charming princess is the _furry_ best." He winked.

"I would love to keep letting you tell me how great I am while ignoring your horrible puns but I actually have to hurry, my parents are waiting for me to help them in the bakery. Good luck with those mysterious heroic things you have to do!" Marinette excused herself with a playful smile.

"I will definitely over _cat_ every difficulty to secure the safety of your kingdom!" Chat assured her with a flirtatious grin playing around his lips.

"Told you your puns are horrible" she countered smugly and poked the tip of his nose, something she did all the time as Ladybug. Laughing she walked past him into the store, sending him a last wave of goodbye.

When she was gone Chat Noir sighed loudly and leaned against a lantern next to him.

Why didn't he think of the possibility that he could encounter Marinette when he decided to go to the store _she_ had mentioned to him earlier? Maybe he was overreacting but it could have been a hint about his true identity when she saw him there as Chat Noir at the same day.

Not that he had much of a choice. He knew very well that his father would not let him go to buy fabrics, of all things. He would tell him that he could get him anything, only the best of the best of course. And also he would hire someone to create the gifts for him so Adrien wouldn't have to do it himself.

Since there was nothing he could do about it he hoped Marinette wouldn't think about the reason why he was there too much and headed home.

* * *

This evening Marinette heard a muffled sound from above, like footsteps, and tried to fight down the fear rising inside of her. Why and _how_ could anybody be up on her roof right now? Quietly she exchanged a look with Tikki who was resting on her pillow beside her, both ready to transform any moment if needed. Carefully Marinette got up from her lying position and opened her window, slowly peering out on her balcony. But what she found in front of her soothed her instantly.

"Chat Noir! What are you doing here?" she asked dumbfounded, just like she had done in front of the store just a few hours earlier. For a moment she was afraid that he had somehow figured her out but inspecting the nervous, guilty looking boy in front of her she knew he had to be there for a different reason.

"I came to apologize" he answered hesitantly, not meeting her eyes. "I was quite a flirt today and I wanted to make it up to you. You deserve a proper conversation at least." Shyly he looked down at her, scratching the back of his head.

A soft smile appeared on Marinette's lips as he held his hand out to her so he could help her climb out of her room. She'd always known that he was a gentleman underneath all his flirting and bad jokes but she hadn't expected something like that from him. After all _Marinette_ wasn't more to him than some random citizen he had to protect just like anybody else.

"But you don't even know me. How do you know that I deserve your effort?" She straightened up next to him with a curious expression.

"Let's say I'm pretty good with assessing someone's character" he answered smiling and his tensed body began to relax as he leaned against the balustrade beside her. "So, what brought you to the store?" he asked casually as if he didn't know too well. But her shining eyes and the devotion in her voice was totally worth hearing the whole explanation of Secret Santa Marinette Style™ again while hardly getting a chance to speak on his side.

"…and that's how it works! I am so excited, I can barely wait for December to begin!"

Chat couldn't help but chuckle affectionately. Of course he'd known how passionate she was about her project already but he once again had witnessed her unfettered, cute excitement and once again it had completely enchanted him. "You really are the incarnated Christmas spirit, aren't you? Your enthusiasm is truly infectious and I would love to stay longer to hear more but unfortunately I have to leave. Besides, I wouldn't want to cause Paris' princess to miss any of her well-earned sleep."

Slightly he bowed and giggling Marinette followed suit. "It was very nice having you here, minou."

Surprised by the warm feeling Marinette's words caused inside of him he jumped over the balustrade. "The pleasure was all mine. See you soon, Marinette. Stay the way you are."

While she watched him leave over the nearby rooftops Marinette realized something. Usually, as Ladybug, she didn't get that emotional and passionate around Chat Noir. But today, as Marinette, all of her thoughts had bubbled out of her without any interruption or restraint. And it had felt right, felt save with him.

No matter what happened, no matter how bad things could possibly get, she could always count on her partner, her friend. And that meant the world to her.

With a knowing smile Tikki watched the two of them saying goodbye.


	4. Third week of November

"This gift from god is the most precious creature I have ever seen in my entire minor existence."

"You say that every time you see a ca-"

"SHE IS!"

Adrien was holding Totoro - apparently Ella and Etta were huge Ghibli fans and didn't care for the sex of their cat - right in front of his face so their noses touched. Nino would have sworn he saw the same eyes-squinted grinning expression his best friend had on his face on the cat's face as well. Every now and then Adrien let out a squeal of joy while snuggling with the British shorthair silver tabby and Marinette was sure she would never see anything as pure and innocent in her whole life ever again.

"Can you even imagine what kind of drama would have occurred if Totoro would have disliked Adrien?" Alya was watching the boys with crossed arms and an amused grin on her face. A shiver went down her spine as Marinette considered that scenario.

"Don't even think about something as terrible as that! It would have completely wrecked his will to live." She sighed, relieved that they hadn't had to try to prevent Adrien from drowning in his own desperate tears.

"Quite possibly" Alya laughed, nudged Marinette's shoulder with her own and began to smirk. "You should join the cuddling. Maybe Adrien will end up nuzzling _your_ nose somehow."

It took Marinette's face exactly one second to turn flaming red and she was too baffled to stop Alya from pushing her towards the carpet the boys kneeled on. Well, Nino kneeled. Adrien had ended up lying on the ground, Totoro climbing over his chest like it was a part of Mount Everest and not the body of a model. An affectionate smile replaced the blush of embarrassment on her face and she gathered the courage to sit down next to Nino.

"I didn't even get the chance to pet her" he grumbled jealously as she settled down beside him.

The moment the three of them had walked into Alya's home Totoro had ran up to Adrien straightaway, rubbing her head against his legs and meowing in delight. Clearly there was something to Adrien that somehow had an attracting effect on her but Marinette had no idea what it could be. Of course Adrien had a similar effect on Marinette herself but she doubted that it was for the same reason as for the cat. Totoro and Adrien simply had captivated each other on the spot.

Marinette understood Nino's grudge only too well.

But Adrien didn't even realize how grumpy his friends were. "Don't you think cats are the greatest?" he asked as he happily smiled up to the cat on his chest.

"I like turtles" Nino answered deadpanned.

"Foxes are definitely the best!" Alya jumped in as she joined her friends serving cookies. Marinette held her hand in front of her mouth and giggled joyfully. She was thankful to whoever had blessed her with those quirky, wonderful friends.

"What is your favorite animal, Marinette?" Adrien asked, averting his eyes from Totoro for the first time this afternoon and smiled at her for a short moment before turning back to the cat.

 _Still counts_ , Marinette thought proudly before answering. "I like all kinds of animals, it's hard to choose just one…"

"Oh girl, is there a single creature on this earth you wouldn't be able to love?" Alya chuckled and put an arm around her best friend.

"You mean aside from Chloé?" Nino muttered under his breath more to himself than anyone in the room, staying unheard.

"When it comes to favorite earth-creatures those present have a good chance" Marinette responded laughing, unaware of Nino's slightly mean yet true comment.

At the end of the day Marinette had another entry on her mental list of joyful gatherings with her best friends.

* * *

After an exhausting day full of lectures about being late to class and nearly falling asleep during dinner Marinette allowed herself to take a break on her balcony. As she admired the sight in front of her she spotted a shadow fastly approaching, causing her frown to turn into a small smile.

"You again" she said surprised when Chat Noir landed in front of her and bowed.

"The path of faith led me here once again, princess" Chat explained coyly but Marinette just blinked at him, not the littlest bit less confused. When he dropped his act and genuinely chuckled at her baffled expression Marinette's heart took a leap. "Your speech from last week inspired me and I want to learn from the _furry_ best how to Christmas" he confessed with an eager smile.

"How to… what?" Still puzzled Marinette tried to understand what Chat was talking about since it seemed he'd forgotten to say the second half of his sentence out loud.

"Since a hero like me has to live a life in isolation I never experienced Christmas like you have described it to me. And since I found your version extremely appealing I was wondering if you would mind to…" Suddenly he became timid and very quiet and Marinette was taken aback due to the fact that she never saw him like that before. "…show me to enjoy Christmas the way you do?" The shy and pleading smile on his face could just as well belong to a five-year-old. It was impossible to say no to that. Everyone was talking about puppy eyes but no one ever gave warning of kitten eyes!

Finally she came back to her senses and smiled at her counterpart. "I'd be honored to pass on my legacy." She curtsied. She was talking to Chat, after all. "But it's not that hard; you simply devote yourself to something you like that delectate others too. In my case it's crafting gifts for my friends and family and I'd love to help you find that something for you too. But, for my sake..." Marinette imposed her one and only condition: "No puns."

"I thought this was meant to be a time of fun and joy!" Chat protested, causing his newfound master to laugh cheerfully.

"Yes, you're right but since both of us are meant to have fun…"

"You think my _paw_ ns are hilarious, don't even try to deny it."

"…let's try to find something different that both of us will enjoy. Is there anything else you like?" Marinette asked, ignoring his maybe a little true comment.

Without a second thought Chat revealed the thing he had already been thinking about all week: "I _love_ Totoro."

Panicking over the realization of what he just had said he already made up an excuse about how he met Alya's siblings and their cat but Marinette's eyes began to shine and she excitedly jumped up and down in front of him.

"Really? You do? That's great! If you want to we can watch it right now!"

Chat Noir blinked at her, uncomprehending. Until now he had thought the twins had come up with the name for their cat on their own and he had no idea what Marinette was talking about but since it seemed to be a suitable opportunity to keep his identity a secret he tried to play along as best as he could.

"Yeah sure, it's great!"

Marinette squealed and looked at him curiously. "What's your favorite part?"

"Uhm… uh… I don't know… That's a tough question. Maybe… everything?"

Laughing she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her window. "We'll watch it right now so you can decide what you like best about it!"

After 86 minutes of laughter and tears of joy Chat not only got the origin of his favorite cat's name but also craved for more Ghibli films. Since Marinette was perfectly fine with that they ended up in a Ghibli marathon that lasted all night.


	5. Last week of November

Marinette's heart was racing.

After Adrien had postponed their meeting further and further due to extra fencing lessons and spontaneous photo shoots today was finally the day she'd meet him.

At his home.

All the built-up excitement flooded Marinette at once when she entered the mansion through its huge, impressive front doors and she felt like this could very well be the time and place where she'd take her last breath.

"Father, my friend Marinette is with me to work on a project together!" Adrien called up the stairs into an empty hallway, his bodyguard and Gabriel's assistant standing in some corner of the foyer. To Marinette's surprise Gabriel Agreste appeared just seconds later and her heart stopped for a second at the sight of her greatest idol. And if all that wasn't enough already he also inspected her intently from where he was standing and even addressed her directly.

"Hello Miss…" He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Dupain-Cheng" she blurted out tensed, little droplets of sweat forming on her forehead.

"Hello Miss Dupain-Cheng. I don't understand what is withholding my son from studying with my assistant Natalie as usual but I guess as long as it is for school I can accept it."

Adrien didn't feel the need to correct his father who once nodded his head at them and then disappeared into the hallway as fast as he came.

Normally Marinette would have been worried about putting Adrien in trouble for lying but she barely realized what his father had said because she was too overwhelmed by… everything. The impressive mansion and its noble furniture, Adrien so close by her side, Gabriel Agreste right in front of her eyes. It was a lot to take in.

So she stood there, frozen, and stared in awe, still processing.

"You're coming?" With an amused chuckle Adrien startled her out of her thoughts and she saw that he was already halfway up the stairs.

"Oh, uhm, sure…" she mumbled embarrassed and hurried up the stairs behind him.

Once they settled on Adrien's comfortable couch he gave Marinette an eager look. "I am ready to learn!" he stated with excitement shining in his eyes, triggering tension and happiness in Marinette at the same time.

"Well… I never taught anyone these things before so don't expect too much, okay? I don't want to disappoint you" she responded cautiously but Adrien's expression stayed as cheerful.

"I'm certain you won't. Let's try this out together! What do you think is a simple thing even I can handle?" he asked with a goofy grin. It reminded Marinette of someone else but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Relieved about his response she smiled at him and relaxed, starting to bloom as she talked about her passion. "It shouldn't be a problem for you to modify already existing objects to your heart's content. Decorating them, you know? And it may not sound like it but it's much fun! It's an easy way to give free rein to your creativity with little chances to muck it up. To begin with something appropriate…"

Gleefully babbling Marinette scrabbled through her bag until she finally found what she was looking for and proudly handed Adrien a simple white picture frame and a… gun? Adrien's eyes widened in shock and he scrambled away from her a little, unable to rip his gaze off the small, black object in her hand.

Puzzled Marinette looked at him and then followed his gaze to the items she was holding. As soon as she understood where his fright was coming from she couldn't help herself but start to giggle. "That's… That's just a hot glue gun" she explained trying to regain her composure as quickly as possible since she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. "You never saw one? When it comes to handicrafts it is your very best friend!"

Embarrassed Adrien looked to the ground, frantically trying to come up with something to say that wouldn't make him seem as dumb as he felt right now. "In that case I'm going to call it Nino" he said to distract her from his awkwardness, gladly realizing that it worked out perfectly.

As always such sweet words coming from Adrien caused Marinette to blush intensely and she hurried to continue with her explanation to not get lost in his beautiful eyes. "In that case take... Nino and some of the decorations I brought that you'd like to stick to the frame. Of course you could paint it previously too but it would be a waste of time to wait for the color to dry now so we'll directly start with the glue."

"Well, I think that spending time with a friend is never a waste of time but I get what you mean" he objected gently and smiled at her. "Go on, your lesson's already very promising and encouraging so far!"

This cuteness again. If he would go on like that he would end up accidentally killing her.

Marinette had to clear her throat before continuing to speak. "I have to offer… beads of all kind, glitter, colorful buttons, feathers, small bells and… a lot of other things, actually." They laughed together and Marinette realized that she grew more comfortable and relaxed around Adrien with every passing day. Slowly but surely she even grew more confident around him.

At the end of the afternoon Adrien knew the basics of crafting and Marinette made her way home extremely happy and proud of herself, motivated by a set date for another crafting session that most certainly wouldn't get delayed for a week.

* * *

"I'm curious, Chat." Prying Marinette approached the hero of Paris who she found herself next to on her balcony yet again. He had grown a habit of visiting her in the evening and their encounters had become an almost daily thing both of them were looking forward to during most of their days.

"Someone's being a nosy princess" he teased, provoking Marinette to cross her arms in front of her chest playfully huffy.

"I've only got one question, minou. Don't act like such a jerk!" she complained with an adorable pout on her face.

Chat's smirk softened and turned into a genuine smile. "You know you can ask me anything, Marinette."

Ignoring the light blush on her cheeks she smiled back. "What… Uhm, what would you like to be if you weren't a superhero?" she finally asked the question she'd been wondering about all day long.

Chat looked at her in surprise. He didn't know what he had expected but it certainly wasn't a question like that. "Hmmm…" He scratched his chin and narrowed his eyes.

"No idea?" laughing Marinette nudged his shoulder with her own and Chat began to laugh too.

"In fact I'm 100% sure what I want to be but it's kind of embarrassing" he confessed, shy all of a sudden.

"What is it?" Marinette asked encouraging, excited for his answer. The intense green eyes of her counterpart searched for her innocent blue ones before he took a deep breath and answered.

"A pokemon trainer."

"A… pokemon trainer?"

"Yes. Absolutely. No other option."

Marinette blinked in disbelief and Chat got worried that he unsettled her with his nerdy confession but after a few painfully slow seconds had passed she finally began to beam at him. It was easily the most sincere and brightest smile Chat had ever seen aside from Nino's. "It suits you, minou."

"It does?" He looked at her in surprise, visibly delighted and relieved.

"Yeah, I mean it. Out there looking for adventures and caring for your friends, I can even see it in front of my inner eye!"

"You don't think it's weird and… awkward?" he asked to reassure himself and Marinette gave him her 'Are you serious?'-look.

"Chat, I outed myself as the biggest Ghibli fan there is in front of you so, no, that's not awkward at all. Never be ashamed of the things you love. They make you who you are and I like who you are."

Pondering yet comfortable silence fell upon them while a warm feeling filled Chat's chest. Rarely anyone took him or his dreams seriously, especially his childish ones. But Marinette seemed to understand and even support him and he added that to the list of reasons why he cherished her.

"So!" Marinette crossed her legs, leaned even closer to him and looked at him as curious as ever. "Which one is your favorite pokemon?"

He didn't even need a second to think about his answer. "Easy. It's Eevee."

A complacent grin appeared on her lips since she had expected that answer. "Ah, I guess your favorite eeveelution is Umbreon then?"

" _Purr_ fectly right, my Princess. You seem to understand me incredibly well, I truly appreciate that." Despite his joking undertone a sincere smile was tugging at the corners of his lips. "But you still have to tell me what's yours."

Marinette's face turned bright red. "Mi- mine?"

"Of course" Chat laughed. "You obviously know pokemon pretty well. You can't hide your inner nerd from this Cat with super vision!" He pointed at himself with a smug grin. But he quickly dropped his act and turned back to the gentle boy Marinette had grown so fond of in the past few weeks. "Tell me, you have to give me the chance to make a guess too."

Sighing she squared her shoulders and looked straight into his attentive green eyes. "Skitty."

An amused yet affectionate grin appeared on his face. "Seriously, that pink little fur ball? You gotta be _skitten_ me."

An unexpected laugh bubbled out of Marinette's mouth and she smacked his arm lightly. "Oh shut up, you moron!"

Chat couldn't help himself but laugh too, her melodic chuckles were simply way too infectious. "Besides, I guessed right."

"Yeah, sure you did." Amused Marinette shook her head.

"I did!" Chat insisted, but still couldn't ban the happy smile from his face.

They spent the rest of the evening mocking each other, laughing and talking a lot without realizing that Chat had started to call Marinette 'my princess'.

But Tikki did.


	6. First week of December

On the first day of December four more or less nicely wrapped presents were sitting on the desks of Adrien, Nino, Alya and Marinette. The cozy, warm feeling they radiated immediately infected all of their classmates with christmassy joy as they walked into class. Even Chloé's heart began to beat excitedly but of course she would have never admitted that.

Eager to open her present Marinette hurried to her desk with a bright smile on her face but stopped as she heard a high-pitched squeal behind her. Startled she turned around to look at Alya but her best friend herself stared into another direction. As she followed her gaze Marinette realized who the real origin of the sound was.

Nino stood in front of his desk and looked down at his present as he covered his mouth with both hands, almost crying.

"But… You haven't even opened it yet..." Adrien put his present that he had already grabbed excitedly back down so that he could calm down his best friend with light pats on the back.

"It's so beautiful" Nino whispered completely smitten.

It took him exactly four seconds to rip the soft package open impatiently.

Inside was a self-knitted orange and blue striped bobble hat with some sort of flaps on each side. Confused he inspected the holes and his eyes widened as soon as he realized they were meant for his headphones. "The one who did this must be a genius" he exhaled impressed.

Alya raised an eyebrow at him for the fact that he didn't instantly understood who his Secret Santa was but decided to concentrate on her own gift instead of scolding him for being an idiot. Without further ado she ripped the paper apart and opened the box inside of it, inspecting the treasure it contained with a bright smile.

"Wow, this thing is awesome, my very own journalist pass! I'm officially important now!" she proudly declared and pinned the badge with a photo and some personal information of her on her blouse. "I'll wear that every day from now on so if Ladybug crosses my way she may think I'm worth giving a personal interview to! It's the perfect plan!"

Marinette giggled and Adrien felt very proud that Alya liked the present he'd made so much as he began to open his own, poorly wrapped present. Confused he looked at the chaotic basket with a little awry patchwork blanket he was now holding in his hands. "What is this…?" he wondered and Nino next to him tried to act as innocent as possible.

"Maybeee… it will make sense once you have all of your other presents?"

Adrien smiled brightly at that without wasting a thought to the fact that Nino more or less had just revealed himself as his Secret Santa. "It sure will! That makes the whole thing even more thrilling!" he said excitedly, looking at the basket like it was his most valuable possession.

Proudly Nino beamed and Marinette had to suppress a laugh while opening her own small present.

Inside of it she found a short ribbon with two pendants on it: a small green paw and a little ladybug. Eagerly she attached it to her phone and held it up to the others. "Look what I got; Chat Noir and Ladybug charms for my phone! They're so cute!"

Nino gave her a thumbs-up and Adrien opened his mouth to congratulate her but was stopped by Madame Bustier's voice filling the room. "Good morning, students, let's start with today's class!"

During the whole lesson all of them inspected their gift further and waited for the break to come to brag and discuss about them.

And they did.

Marinette walked in on Alya and Nino who had headed to the cafeteria before her and they seemed to have a serious conversation. She already turned around to leave again but then she heard Nino saying her name. "…but also, Marinette!"

"Hey, did you call for me?" she asked as she joined them but froze as soon as she saw Nino's pale, wide-eyed expression. "Woah, hold on, what's going on here?"

Alya waved it off with a smirk. "Nino's having a crisis."

"I mean, like," he continued without even realizing Marinette had arrived, "she suggested I need a warmer hat but she was talking about a beanie not a bobble hat. So someone else could have used that as an inspiration for my gift. BUT there's also a high chance that it indeed _is_ her! Alya help me I'm going insane!" He was sweating.

"Stop torturing yourself, Nino! This is meant to be fun! You still have three weeks to figure out who of us your Secret Santa is and you will even get more clues with every week. Relax, you're not supposed to know it by now anyways" she tried to calm him with a sympathetic smile.

"But Alya said…"

"Alya does not know everything, even though she loves to act like she does" Marinette interrupted him for his own sake and Nino relaxed a little, a small smile playing around his lips. Alya next to him stuck her tongue out at Marinette who blew her a kiss and chuckled. At that moment Adrien came up to them with a huge smile on his face.

"Hey guys, are you as excited as I am? I can't wait for next week!" he confessed happily and sat down beside his friends.

For the rest of the break they chatted animatedly with each other, Alya kept teasing Nino relentlessly and Marinette couldn't help but laugh wholeheartedly. Which was adorable, if you asked Adrien.

As he sat there and looked into her shining eyes Adrien realized something that may have been obvious but was an important discovery for him: Throughout the whole Secret Santa event and its preparations he and Marinette grew closer with each passing day. She'd even finally overcome her shyness around him! Of course he had already liked her a lot before but now the time they spent together felt different. Better.

And even though he got to spend more time with her than he used to it still wasn't enough.

Luckily for him there was Chat Noir.

At the same day Marinette heavy-heartedly came to a conclusion as well. The more time she spent with Adrien, the more certain she got that she truly admired his presence, even if it was only as a friend. She had had a crush on him for over two years now and he hadn't shown the slightest bit of interest in her up to this day, so what could possibly happen to change his platonic feelings towards her? Maybe she should work on that 'just friends'-thing to be able to spend more, less awkward, time with him.

Determined Marinette decided that this would be her new goal, unaware about how terribly wrong she was.

* * *

To her own surprise and joy Alya's plan of catching Ladybug's attention with her new badge worked out perfectly.

Since the rules of Secret Santa Marinette Style™ forbade it to give a present to any other person than your giftee, Marinette had found a different way to make her best friend happy, paying back only a tiny amount the love and brightness Alya had brought into her life.

"That badge is pretty cool!" Ladybug gave Alya an accretive look who proudly smiled at her heroine. She puffed up her chest and presented the badge that read 'VIB – Very Important Blogger'. It looked objectively real.

"It is, isn't it? A friend of mine made it but I don't know who it was yet. Secret Santa, you know?" The she leaned in and whispered as if the following were top secret information. "I guess it's my best friend though. It seems she made another present too but I just can't imagine that the boys in the group are… creative enough to be capable of something like that, to say the least." She winked and Ladybug giggled, amused about the thought of Alya's surprised face once she'd learn the truth.

Chat tried very hard to keep a straight face. Aside from needing to keep his identity a secret he didn't know if he should be offended about what Alya just had said or if he should be proud about the fact that she thought Marinette's gifted hands had created something that was actually made by him.

Thinking of Marinette… He wanted to visit her again this evening.

* * *

Still musing about her feelings for Adrien and her resolution to let go of them Marinette stood on her balcony and admired the scenery in front of her. Somewhere along the line her thoughts wandered off though, to the wonderful moments she had spent here during the last few weeks. Most of these thoughts circled around the person who had accompanied her and who so suddenly had sneaked a way into her life and made himself at home there.

Yet again Tikki tried to talk to her about her feelings towards Chat Noir but Marinette wasn't ready just yet to face the inconvenient truth about the conflict she was in as Ladybug.

Maybe it would have been different if she had to work on gifts for Adrien. Maybe it was led by her decision to let go of her feelings for him. Or maybe Adrien hadn't had the slightest part to play in this.

No matter what it was, Marinette was falling for Chat.

"Princess! I'm here to wish you a happy Christmas Month!" Chat greeted her, startling her out of her thoughts about him. Nevertheless a bright beam appeared on her face because she was more than happy to see him. Amazed that his words had such a positive impact on her Chat couldn't help but smile brightly as well since her beam was quite infectious.

"The same to you, minou! It's good to see you." After hearing her own affectionate tone she advised herself to pull herself together as the last thing she wanted was to get as obvious and awkward around him as she'd done around Adrien. Relieved that Chat seemed to not analyze her words or voice she relaxed.

"You missed my _claw-_ ver puns, didn't you? I knew it, you long for my _cat-_ chy jokes and my _tail-_ ent to make you laugh" he blathered and instantly wanted to slap himself.

 _Snap out of it Agreste, it's just Marinette! No need to be nervous_.

But the scolding didn't help at all. His heart still beat rapidly against his chest and under his gloves his hands were sweating despite the chill weather. To his surprise Marinette laughed instead of shaking her head annoyed yet amused like he had expected her to.

"You are terrible, you know that? I would rather call your puns _paw-_ ful to be honest. Maybe I should look for a new _fur-_ end to spend my evenings with. " Teasingly she smirked at him while his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Did you just… Did you make…? For me?" An excited smile and a muffled squeal found their way to Chat's lips. Even though she had intended to do something nice for him she hadn't expected him to get that happy about only two horrible puns.

Not that she wanted to complain. His reaction was adorable.

"Consider it an early Christmas present" she laughed while motioning him to enter her room.

"It's the best gift you could have _paw-_ sibly made me, _Purr-_ iiin-"

She pushed him into her room. "Enough is enough!" she said barely serious before following him. Secretly she thought to herself that she could get used to that silly, loveable kitty curling up on her bed.

And he didn't want to leave it anytime soon either.


	7. Second week of December

"Awesome!" Alya exclaimed as she immediately put on the orange mask she found inside the sparkling box she'd just opened. Marinette inspected it impressed too, recognizing the mask from her favorite store she had recommended to Adrien last month. One single glance was enough for a feeling of proudness to swell in her chest, the way he had customized it was beautiful. The painted ornaments weren't perfectly symmetrical but it still looked pretty good. Deciding that she had sufficiently examined her student's work she finally opened her own present.

Silently she stared at the photo inside of her hands. Everyone knew that she loved Alya with all of her heart but this present freaked her out.

Shocked she looked at a photo of herself standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, right next to Chat Noir and… herself.

She blinked.

Alya had photoshopped the two heroes of Paris into a photo of Marinette she had taken a few weeks ago. Gawking at the picture Marinette was afraid that she was unable to give the slightest impression of liking it even a bit. She just looked at her face and her face and it gave her goosebumps over her entire body.

Aside from that she couldn't believe that Alya had spent so much time editing the photo and still hadn't recognized that her best friend and Ladybug shared the same face.

Or had she?!

Dread filled Marinette's chest and warily she looked at the girl sitting beside her. "I can't remember that this ever happened" she said as casually as possible but still with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"I know that you met Chat Noir but did you ever meet Ladybug?" Alya asked distracted while looking at herself wearing the mask through her phone's selfie camera. "Maybe one day you will really stand next to our heroine!" she exclaimed excited and winked at Marinette behind her mask, most likely only to see how it feels.

Marinette wasn't sure if she should be offended that her best friend still hadn't recognized her even though she must have spent quite some time with Marinette's face next to Marinette's face but she was too glad to truly care. It was nothing to make believe her relieve was happiness caused by the present as she cheerfully wrapped her arms around Alya's neck. "Thank you so much!"

"Who said it's from me?" Alya shrugged but smirked at her.

One row in front of them Nino was barely able to hold back the tears as he looked at the poster with a logo Marinette had designed for him. At the heart of the artwork, in the background of a colorful graphic of Nino's headphones, a red vinyl shimmered due to the kind of paint she had used. Bold, curved letters surrounded the picture, a quote of him she had always liked incredibly much: 'All I need is friends, family and music!'

His overwhelmed reaction warmed Marinette's heart and she smiled happily, glad that her friend liked her present so much. But she quickly got distracted by the boy next to Nino who inspected some ugly grey felt shaped like mice. At the sight Alya wrinkled her nose and Marinette began to feel bad for him but Adrien seemed to be perfectly happy with it.

"I have no idea what's going on but I still love it" he said cheerfully and everyone was impressed by his unconditional trust and love he had for his friends and, most of all, in his Secret Santa.

* * *

Later that day Marinette once again found Chat Noir on her balcony and invited him in on the condition of no puns for at least that evening. Grudgingly he agreed, both of them knowing that he wouldn't stick to his word but that it didn't matter anyways because they also knew that Marinette hadn't really meant it.

In consequence of him spending a lot of time inside of her room over the past few weeks Chat immediately spotted the new frame on Marinette's desk. In school he hadn't had the chance to get a closer look at it so he inspected the picture interested and ended up genuinely confused.

"I can't remember that this ever happened?" he said puzzled, scratching the back of his head. He wouldn't forget about saving Marinette and taking a picture afterwards, would he? Guilt bubbled up inside of him but it vanished as soon as Marinette began to laugh.

"That's just what I was thinking! But a friend of mine made it, it's photoshopped."

Chat smirked and took his chance to show off a little. Yes, he was talking to his close friend Marinette but it wouldn't hurt to impress her a little, okay? "I guess I could arrange it for you to actually take a picture like that with me and my precious partner."

Marinette laughed it off nervously because, no matter how incredible his powers and connections were, he definitely _couldn't_ arrange that. "Nah, I already spend more than enough time with you and I met Ladybug a few times so… I think I can live with that one."

Chat's response caused Marinette's blood to run cold.

"You're lying."

Startled she looked up at him. Did _he_ figure her out? Did _he_ recognize her face? Was he mad at her for lying at him, pretending she wasn't who she was?

But he just wiggled his eyebrows. "One could never spend enough time with me."

That took a load off Marinette's mind.

"Please shut up" she laughed relieved and proceeded with what she had been doing before Chat had scared her to death and loaded the cheesiest Christmas movie she had been able to find into her computer: Love Actually.

Today Chat would learn about the emotional, sentimental side of Christmas.

* * *

"I am ready for something more difficult!" Adrien announced as soon as he was standing inside of Marinette's room, his posters long gone. Unsure she motioned him to sit down on her second chair.

"Are you sure? It's only two more weeks until Christmas, I wouldn't want you to bite off more than you can chew."

With a motivated grin on his face Adrien nodded and settled down next to her. "I learned from the very best and I'm certain my skills improved enough for me to try something more complicated! But not too hard please" he encouraged and backtracked at the same time and Marinette giggled quietly. Then she had a sudden inspiration.

"I have the perfect idea!" she exclaimed, hurried to her cupboard and rummaged through the drawer for a short while. Suddenly she threw a pair of fluffy socks at him that he managed to catch before it hit his face.

"Socks?" he asked wondering as Marinette came back to her desk with her sewing box.

"Yes, socks! It's quite easy to sew a plushie with a sock. Let me show you…"

Delighted Adrien watched the process in which she transformed the sock into the head of a black cat.

First of all she drew the shape of a cat on the sock and then sewed the outline. After that she cut along the line, turned the inside out and stuffed it with some fiberfill until it looked squashy and cute. Every step was performed slowly and with clear movements, easy for him to follow as Marinette explained everything she was doing.

Adrien had to admit that it indeed seemed to be fairly easy but he had the presumption that it would be harder for him as it was for her. Throughout the entire process he kept asking questions and intently watched every step as she showed him how to backstitch.

"Your first try may not go off without a hitch but a pair is made out of two socks for a reason, right?" she asked and winked playfully, a happy chuckle bubbling out of her.

If anyone would see the fond smile Adrien sent Marinette's way, they would instantly know what kind of feelings he developed for her. Tikki nearly had a breakdown.

Unfortunately he had to leave early because of a scheduled Chinese lesson (at some point he had started to go over at Marinette's even though he didn't _exactly_ had the time for it) but maybe it wouldn't take long for a certain superhero to visit.

On his way back home Adrien bought 6 pairs of socks.


	8. Third week of Dember

Deeply lost in thought Adrien inspected the present he had found inside the little box that had lied on his desk today. "What's that? A bracelet? A keychain?" he asked puzzled and narrowed his eyes at the thing inside his hand, intensely trying to solve the mystery.

"Maybe you'll understand once you get your last present?" Nino offered, unsuccessfully trying to not sound too suspicious and obvious again. But again, just like the first time, Adrien didn't took notice of it at all.

"I guess…" he answered distracted, still determined to come up with the answer to his (extremely important) question.

There was another person barely paying attention to their surroundings: Marinette. Not that she wasn't interested in her friend's presents or thought they were lame, not at all, she was just completely captivated by the beautifully decorated sketchbook inside her hands. It's front was red, covered in green paws and black dots with some glittering highlights as a pink logo spelled 'Marinette's greatest ideas' in bold, cursive letters above it all.

Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes as she quietly stared at it for 5 minutes straight, unaware of Alya watching her doing so with a happy, proud smile.

Since it was clear that her best friend loved her present Alya decided it was time to unwrap her own gift and she did exactly that without any further hesitation. With a gasp she let the fabric of the seemingly self-braided lasso run through her fingers. "It's a weapon! It's _my_ weapon! I have my own weapon! I'm like a true superhero now!" she exclaimed almost ecstatic and grabbed Marinette's shoulders to shake her, not exactly lightly, before she posed epically in front of the class. She gained some giggles, impressed hums and an annoyed huff from Chloé in response.

In the meantime Nino had another breakdown.

"But I need to _wear_ my glasses! All your work goes to _waste_!" he cried out in agony, kneeling on the ground and dramatically holding his new spectacle case up to the sky. Before anyone could try to calm him down he made up his mind. "You know what? Whoever you are, your effort will be appreciated!" Determined he took off his glasses and put them inside the case. "I will not be able to see _anything_ today but that's totally worth it." He stood up from his kneeling position and tried to sit back down on his seat but the whole class watched him tripping and nearly falling over the backrest. Hurryingly Adrien stood up to guard his best friend to his seat. "Thanks man" Nino said and blinked, looking slightly past him.

Sighing Adrien shook his head in disapproval. "You should really put your glasses back o-"

"No! My Secret Santa and their work will be appreciated!" Nino cut him off and crossed his arms in front of his chest, pressing his point.

Marinette tried to hide her giggle behind her hand. Of course she was a little worried about her friend but Nino was too dorky and adorable for her to handle this situation seriously. Also she was sure Adrien would take good care of him, not allowing anything to happen to his best friend, so she had no real reason to worry.

* * *

"You're a Marinette-Elf! A Marielf!" Chat Noir's eyes sparkled with excitement as he inspected her hat, skirt and shoes while circling her. "I'll definitely hold on to that nickname by the way" he decided, ignoring her disapproving snort. She had known it would be a mistake to show herself to him like that but she was really proud of her design and for some reason she wanted to present it to him.

"Where did you buy it?" Chat asked after his 5th round around her.

A disgusted gasp made its way over her lips. "Excuse me?" she revolted with her hands on her hips.

"Where did you get the costume? I would love to get a matching costume to dress up with you" he admitted sheepishly but she was too offended to realize how sweet he was.

"Chat, I made this myself" she clarified deadpanned.

"What?!" Wide-eyed he circled her another 5 times and inspected the beautiful green and red striped fabric even more precisely. "Oh my god Princess, I am so sorry! Marinette, that's impressive! It looks so professional and it is really well sewn; of course I knew you're good but why didn't you tell me that you are a genius?" he asked genuinely overwhelmed, his eyes almost falling out of their sockets.

Actually Marinette wanted to be a tease and ask him why he had thought so poorly of her, hearing him apologize and beg for forgiveness. But strangely his admiration embarrassed her incredibly much and made her blush so intensely that she couldn't get out a single word as he stepped closer. Extremely close. Too close.

Although he was only so close to get a good look at the pattern she had stitched onto her collar, her breath caught in her throat with his face just a few inches away from her own. After a moment of Marinette staring at Chat, unable to breath, he slowly looked up, finally realizing how near her face was as well. How close her _lips_ were. Temptingly close. Irresistibly close.

For a few seconds they got caught up in each other's eyes and forgot everything around them. While Chat noticed that the clear blue of Marinette's eyes had a calming influence on him, she decided that the vivid green she lost herself in was from now on her uncontested favorite color.

Eventually Chat flinched away from her as if he had just burned his hands on her body. In fact, it exactly felt like that. Heat crept through his entire body from where he had touched Marinette, despite his gloves and her costume preventing their skin from touching.

He began to laugh nervously. "Well, Princess… ha… uhm, what do you want to t-teach me today?" he stammered, desperately trying to cause the tension between them to disappear. He didn't succeed and instead felt like an awkward idiot who saw a beautiful girl for the first time in his entire life.

"Wearing ridiculous costumes" she exhaled still paralyzed, staring at him.

This situation and the emotions that unexpectedly flooded Chat in consequence of it were too much for him to handle, too much for him to deal with. So he followed his cat instincts and did the only thing he was able to manage at this moment: running away. "In that case I already passed my lesson for today, didn't I? That comes in handy because I forgot I… I need to be somewhere else. See you soon!"

And with that, he was gone.

For way too long Marinette kept staring at the spot where Chat had stood only seconds ago, a single, frightening thought circling inside her head, screaming at her: She had a helpless crush on Chat Noir.

* * *

Marinette couldn't stand it any longer, she needed to talk to someone about her confusing feelings. Too late she realized that Alya may not have been the best choice.

"He's just a flirt."

"He is not!"

"I guess you have to know better. I mean, you're the one dating him after all." Mischievously Alya smirked at Marinette who rolled her eyes.

"I am not" she simply disagreed.

Alya shrugged "But you want to and in that case you totally have a crush on said flirt."

"I told you he is _not_ a flirt! He tries his best to be a gentleca- man. A gentleman."

 _Oh no_.

There was no way Alya overheard or would ever let go of what she'd just said.

Unsurprisingly, her best friend's eyes widened, her mouth fell open and her 'I don't really care'-attitude was gone within a single second. "Were you just about to say _gentlecat_? Are you freaking kidding me, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?!"

With her cheeks turning bright red Marinette avoided eye contact and fumbled around with her purse, Tikki hidden inside of it. Come to think of it, she should have rather talked to her in the first place.

"I didn't… I wasn't… Seriously that was not what I was going to say!" she desperately tried to perform some damage control. Obviously, she failed.

Alya managed to finally regain her composure and shot Marinette a knowing grin. "Whatever you say girl. Oh, for your interest, you didn't even deny that you have a thing for Chat Noir at all."

With a resigned sigh Marinette slid down her chair. "I don't have the power to do that. Please give me a break." Laughing Alya patted her best friend's head to at least comfort her a little.

Neither of them noticed Adrien sitting in his chair one row in front of them as straight as a post. He had heard everything.

For the last few days, two equally, insanely strong feelings had accompanied him on every step he had taken: the urge to confess his affection towards Marinette and the painful dread of being rejected by her. Despite the second one he made up his mind at that very moment and decided determinedly to tell Marinette how deeply he felt for her. Soon.

Persuading himself that as Chat Noir he would be able to handle it if she rejected him and that he could always try harder as Adrien gave him all the courage he needed.


	9. Last week of December

This monday morning no one found a present on their desk due to their agreement to exchange the final gifts on Christmas Eve. A little disappointed the rest of the class compelled them to report every littlest detail to them; since they had witnessed the whole thing from the beginning they also wanted to know how it ended.

Except for Chloé, of course.

On the last day of school Rose handed all of her classmates a little personalized Christmas card, Mylène served various cookies and Kim refused the bet that he wouldn't miss the others. Marinette watched it all happening with a fond smile playing around her lips. She loved the close, strong bond her class had developed over the last months and knew for sure that she would miss all of them dearly. But it would be an "excited to see everyone again"-kind of missing and not the sad kind, so the thought didn't harm the thrill of anticipation that warmed her chest but fueled it.

Before they went home Alya, Nino and Marinette planned their meeting on Christmas Eve to deliver the last gifts and even though Adrien wasn't sure if his father would let him leave the house he assured his friends that he would somehow find a way. That statement worried his friends more than it eased them but they couldn't change his mind anyway so they decided to not worry too much and just enjoy the holidays instead.

Little did Marinette know what the following days had in store for her.

"Come out already!"

Marinette hid out of sight of her window as narrowed green eyes scanned her bed for any sign of living. So far she was not ready to face Chat Noir after what happened the week before, she needed more time to figure her feelings out. "Tikki, what should I do? He knows I'm home but I… I can't talk to him! Not now."

With an understanding smile her Kwami snuggled up to her. "I get that it's hard Marinette but you don't want to be as shy around Chat as you were around Adrien, do you? Is it worth it to-"

"Princess! Please, I have to tell… show you something!"

"Gosh, he's stubborn. What did you want to say?" Slightly annoyed Marinette faced Tikki again.

"It's just that I'm concerned that you'll be unhappy about-"

"I know that you can hear me Marielf. It's urgent, come on!"

Questioningly Tikki looked at her. "You don't want to go see him? Not at all?"

Conflicted Marinette began to waffle. "It's not like I'm completely aga-"

"I'm freezing, you know?"

Eventually an upset groan escaped Marinette's lips and she tucked a blanket around her shoulders as she furiously rushed towards her balcony. "Chat, I swear to god I'm gonna…" She popped her head out of the window but froze in her tracks as she found Chat's face only inches apart from hers. Due to the unexpected, surprisingly small distance between them Marinette's breath hitched in her throat and she just stared at him with wide, round eyes while a merciless blush spread over her cheeks up to her ears.

Eventually she was able to form coherent thoughts again and finally got an idea of what was happening. Suspiciously she looked up and as expected there it was, fatefully hanging above their heads: a mistletoe.

"Oops" Chat whispered, his face getting even closer. "I heard there's a certain tradition connected to this little thing." He moved closer again and Marinette could feel his warm breath on her lips. "I guess we have to kiss now since it's a very strict Christmas rule and I just learned that you have to stick to all of those." He hesitated and looked into her eyes, his expression so affectionate and genuine that it made Marinette weak in the knees. For a split second his eyes flickered down to her lips as if to ask for permission before he, ever so slowly, began to close the last bit of distance between them.

But suddenly Marinette jolted up, grabbed the green branch and threw it over the railing of her balcony, cutting through the tension that had built up between them. Because all of a sudden, she knew what she wanted and how to answer all of Tikki's and her own questions.

"I'm not going to kiss you because of such a stupid thing!" she exclaimed indignantly. Seeing his deeply pained expression made her say the next sentence earlier than she had planned to but she couldn't bare to see him like this. "I'm going to kiss you simply because I want to" she corrected under her breath, quickly wrapping her arms around Chat's neck and pulling him towards her.

Both of them felt the smile on the others lips as they finally met gently. It was a cute, soft kiss but it was all they could ever wish for.


	10. Christmas Eve

Adrien spent the next day with his head up in the clouds. All day long he felt the memory of her kiss on his lips, thought about the enchanting blue of her eyes and heard her laugh in his ears. Never before had he experienced such a fuzzy, tickling feeling and he knew that this had to be love.

But his high spirit got dumped just a few hours after his first kiss.

"Adrien." His father looked down at him and Adrien was afraid of what he had to say. It was a rare occasion that his father spoke to him personally instead of delivering news through Nathalie except for when they were dining together. If he was completely honest to himself Adrien already knew what his father had to say but he fought back the disappointment and instead kept his hope alive until his father continued.

"I have to excuse myself this evening. A… situation appeared and I have a lot of work to do. I'm aware it is only the second year we have to miss your mother and I genuinely regret this unfortunate situation."

Adrien gulped. _Don't cry_.

"But we'll still have dinner together. Just… a little earlier. I'll spend Christmas with my son nevertheless", his father added quickly as he easily realized that his son was desperately trying to hide how deeply hurt he was. Even Gabriel Agreste recognized that he couldn't let his own son feel so bad on Christmas Eve so he reluctantly made a decision and sighed. "You may even spend the evening with your friends. Just be back home in time."

After that open showing of emotions he left immediately and Adrien was too overwhelmed to stop him. He knew exactly where he wanted to spend his Christmas Eve. Or rather: With whom.

* * *

Dinner with his father was unexpectedly amusing and light-hearted. Obviously Gabriel tried his very best to make up for not being able to spend Christmas Eve with his son by even trying to joke around a little. Of course he wasn't funny at all but Adrien highly appreciated the effort he made.

Maybe the unexpected meeting his father had to participate in was the best thing that could have happened after all. Adrien couldn't even remember the last time he had had so much fun spending time with his father so it truly didn't matter to him if it was Christmas Eve or Christmas Noon.

In addition he also was super excited to meet his friends and especially Marinette later. He had never spent a holiday with friends before and the anticipation of changing that today flooded through his body with every heartbeat.

* * *

Christmas at the Dupain-Cheng household was the purest thing Adrien had ever experienced.

The love this family had for each other could be heard in every word they spoke and seen in every gesture they made. There was not a single moment anyone seemed stressed or annoyed, let alone angry. Even when Tom forgot to get the dough for his Bûche de Noël out of the oven in time due to a video game he and Adrien lost against Marinette he laughed wholeheartedly instead of complaining about it. Now Adrien knew where all the warmth Marinette had to share with everyone was coming from.

This little flat near Notre Dame was filled with more affection on only one evening than the mansion Adrien called home had been all the days since his mother had disappeared taken together. And the absolute best part about it was that he truly felt like he belonged there with Marinette and her parents.

Knowing that the comfy, homey feeling warming every inch of his body wouldn't last forever made him enjoy it to its fullest. After all it was impossible anyway to not be extremely happy spending the whole time right next to Marinette.

"You haven't opened your present yet, Adrien!" Sabine's complaint startled him out of his thoughts as she handed him a nicely wrapped, round package.

"Excuse me, my what now?" Adrien asked bewildered and Sabine giggled nearly as cute as her daughter always did. It made Adrien smile despite his confusion.

"You're our guest and we are more than happy to have you here on this special day! Of course we prepared a little something for you." The smile she gave him made Adrien feel that appreciated and even loved that it almost caused him to cry. Almost.

He couldn't believe it. The evening got better with every passing second despite his assumption of it already being perfect.

"But… I asked if I could spend the night here less than three hours ago. How could you possibly find me a present in that time?" Adrien asked genuinely confused but not any less curious.

The weight of Tom's huge, strong hands settled down on Adrien's shoulders. "It's nothing big but we want you to feel truly welcome here. Open it already!"

Still hesitant Adrien reached for the package, unsure if he should really take it but Marinette's encouraging smile sealed the deal. Excited he ripped the paper apart and gasped as he held a little jar filled with homemade cookies in his hands. And as if that wasn't enough already he realized they were shaped like cats as soon as he opened the jar to try one.

"I… I don't know what to say… that… thank you so much!" Adrien's smile was so wide that his cheeks started to hurt but he couldn't care less. "That's incredibly nice of you, Monsieur Dupain and Madame Cheng, but I don't think I can eat them. They're too adorable."

Proudly Tom put an arm around his wife who beamed at Adrien, glad that he liked his present. "It's our pleasure! And please, call us Sabine and Tom." Before Adrien could thank them again or say anything else Marinette threw her arms around him in a tight hug, successfully silencing him.

His heart stopped.

"In that case I'm going to make you more cookies in any shape you want!" she laughed and Adrien wanted to tell her so badly how cute she was - but he couldn't. He also wanted to tell her that he was the one she had kissed just yesterday and that he wanted to do exactly that again, better sooner than later. Right now, actually. He wanted her to know the truth, about him being Chat Noir and about his feelings for her. But not a single sound made it over his lips.

Fortunately the bell rang at that very moment, saving him from becoming a blushing, stuttering mess.

"Alya and Nino are finally here!" Marinette exclaimed cheerfully and sprinted towards the door, leaving Adrien alone with his thoughts that twirled around in his head like a hurricane. A few moments later Nino startled him out of his thoughts.

"Dude, you're coming?"

Quickly Adrien jumped up to his feet, exchanged a short goodbye with Sabine and Tom and followed his friend to Marinette's room where she and Alya were already chatting animatedly. It seemed Alya told the tale of Totoro's latest adventure in their backyard but Adrien was too distracted to even realize they were talking his favorite kitten.

"Okay I can't wait a single second longer, you need to open my last present _right now_! You know I'm your Secret Santa anyway." With a shrug but still fidgeting with barely contained excitement Alya handed Marinette an oversized present, her eyes shining with anticipation. Marinette's mouth fell open and she stared at the present, hesitant to take it.

"Oh my god Alya, what's that?" she asked astonished.

"You know, the whole point is that you have to open it to find out" Alya explained laughing and pushed the wrapped whopper towards Marinette, basically forcing her best friend to finally take it. Still in awe but knowing that she wouldn't get any more information out of Alya, Marinette carefully removed the paper.

Once it was gone it revealed a huge framed screenshot of a website that threw the bold headline ' **THE GREAT MARINETTE BLOG!** ' to its reader's faces. Some of Marinette's designs were spread over the page and there was also an article named ' _A list of things everyone has to love about Marinette Dupain-Cheng_ ' that was as long as the size of the page had allowed it to be. In the center of it all, forming the core of the site, was a photo of the two girls along with the headline: ' _Does she have the best friend in the world or what?_ '

"She does!" Marinette squealed and threw herself into Alya's arms, her smile so bright and genuine that the corners of her eyes wrinkled. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! This will definitely get a special place on my wall. I love it! I love _you_!"

"You're next!" Regardless of the cuddling going on Nino passed a package to Adrien who, admittedly, would much rather keep watching overjoyed Marinette. On the other hand he figured that he might be staring and that a distraction wouldn't be too bad so he took it, curiosity about what could be inside already taking over.

In the meantime Nino realized that it wasn't official yet that he was Adrien's Secret Santa and got afraid that he'd just screwed up the entire exchange. Frantically he tried to come up with _anything_ that would allow him to keep up his act. "I… uhm, I found it over there… It had your name on it… so I guess… it's from your Secret Santa?"

The gift did not even have a name tag on it but Adrien was too excited to notice and quickly opened the present.

"What is that even supposed to _be_?" Alya, who was still holding a happily smiling Marinette in her arms, crocked an eyebrow at the… thing in Adrien's hands.

"It's a cat!" he answered without missing a beat.

"A… cat?" Instead of clearing anything this only confused Alya further.

"But of course! It is obviously a cat" Adrien said again, not any less confident with his answer.

"Obviously!" Nino emphasized Adrien's statement with a forceful nod.

The object of current interest was a stuffed black sock with two corks glued to each side and two buttons poorly sewn to what Alya considered the front as it appeared slightly thicker than the rest of the 'body'. At the other end some loosen strains of wool were tucked to the fabric, seemingly forming what was supposed to be a tail. It did not have ears though.

Obviously Nino could have used Marinette's help even more than Adrien.

"Moreover it's an absolutely gorgeous little kitty" Adrien added. And he meant it.

"Adrien, please tell me you didn't draw your own name and kept quiet to not cause us any trouble and _please_ tell me you were not making these crappy gifts for yourself" Alya said in a tone between disbelief and frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Crappy?!" An offended yell escaped Nino's lips. "I made those with love!" The moment the words were out he paled as much as his skin tone allowed. "Wait, I just exposed myself. Now he knows that his Secret Santa is neither Marinette nor you. It's obvious now, I screwed up everything!"

"It's already been obvious, babe" Alya comforted him with an amused smirk tugging at her lips.

"No!" Nino insisted strongly.

"Yes. It's been as obvious as your Secret Santa since the very moment you opened your first present."

"No, it wasn't!"

"Nino, I can't even knit. And I guess neither can Adrien."

"Maybe I was in the misconception of believing that both of you loved me enough to learn it for my sake."

"Nino, you can't be serious. Since it's obvious that I am Marinette's Secret Santa yours could only be Marinette herself or Adrien and you cannot convince me that anyone would assume that Adrien is capable of creating the gifts you got! No offense" she added with a short glance to Adrien.

"None taken" he laughed amused, not bothering to look up from his present.

"People are full of surprises, Alya! I'm profoundly convinced that everyone has an unexpected, hidden talent inside of them! ...also I may have gotten a little too excited and wasn't able to think straight anymore" he added quietly.

"Yeah, that's obvious" Alya answered after a victorious laugh.

"I get it now!" Adrien suddenly interrupted her, triumphantly holding up the sock. "A basket, cat toys and a collar! You made sure that I would be able to secure a comfy, proper home for my new kitty friend and that he has everything he needs! You're at least as precious as this little boy right here." Proud and happy Adrien beamed at his best friend.

"Aw, man!" Nino clutched the fabric of his shirt right above his heart and started to tear up while Adrien put an arm around his shoulders, still showering him with praises.

"These guys…" Alya shook her head with a smile while Marinette giggled next to her. Before Nino could truly start to cry Marinette decided to step in.

"Do you want to open your final gift now too?" she asked carefully, smiling softly at him.

"YES!" he said a little too loud without hesitation so she handed it to him with a wide grin. Within seconds Nino had ripped the paper apart and revealed a fictile trophy that looked like a Grammy Award.

"Best musician in any universe and all dimensions - ever" Nino read out loud and looked at Marinette, tearing up again. "Dude. How can you expect me to act all unimpressed and manly while you guys are being so overwhelmingly adorable?" He threw his hands up in despair before putting his glasses down to dab his eyes with the tissue Alya offered him.

Coughing sheepishly Adrien took out the last Secret Santa present of the year.

"So it really is you." Alya whistled impressed as she reached out to take the package and started to unwrap it. Adrien blushed a little, scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and avoided her eyes but smiled brightly when he heard her surprised gasp.

"I did everything on my own, I swear! But I had great help when it comes to instructions." With that he sent a warm smile Marinette's way who would have been proud of him if the plush Alya was currently holding wouldn't have been a Kwami. Of course it was possible that he miserably failed at the proportions of an actual fox but it seemed more likely that he instead did very well at Kwami proportions.

"I love it" Alya exhaled, her eyes basically sparkling while she inspected the small stuffed animal from all possible angles. "Seriously, Agreste. This is awesome."

"I'm super glad you like it. It's a sidekick!" Adrien explained genuinely happy but distracted by Marinette's reaction, unsure about the reason that caused her to look so shocked.

"Isn't it time for the two of you to head back home to your families?" Marinette heard herself asking, sounding weirdly far away as her thoughts circled around only one single question.

"Unfortunately yes... It got kinda late so I have to leave now but we'll see each other tomorrow, right?" Alya asked with a hopeful smile.

"Of course! Say Merry Christmas to your family for me, would you?" Marinette tried her best giving a believable smile and it seemed to work since Alya nodded and opened her arms for their usual goodbye-embrace.

While the girls hugged each other Nino faced Adrien who was still worried about Marinette's odd behavior. "Man, I'm still kinda sad that you're spending this big day with her family instead of mine but I get it that it's too crowded at my place with the whole family for you. Save some Christmassy happiness for me, would you?"

"Of course" Adrien laughed and for a moment he thought that maybe he was only overreacting but as soon as Nino and Alya were out of the door Marinette's expression got serious and she dragged him back to her room.

"How did you come up with the idea for the sidekick?" she asked as innocently as possible. Surprised he looked at her.

"What do you mean? You showed me how to easily sew plush toys out of socks and that's exactly what I did" he explained, wondering what she wanted to hear.

"Yeah but… why did you chose these proportions? It looked… quirky" she tried again, already losing her patience. She wanted to know. _Now_.

"Oh… well I guess that's all I was capable of" he answered nervously, trying to laugh it off. When he'd decided to sew Alya a Kwami he had been sure that no one would get suspicious since they had no idea what Kwamis were, much less what they looked like.

"Yeah, makes sense" Marinette answered without a trace of amusement in her voice. Tensed Adrien tried to withstand her observing look but he failed miserably and his eyes darted to his bag where he assumed Plagg being asleep as usual.

"Ha!" Marinette blurted out and sprinted to the bag to rip it open. Helplessly Adrien reached out his hand in an attempt to stop her but he was too slow and could only watch her, now paralyzed.

Although she had already expected this view she was still flabbergasted and stared at the black cat-like Kwami inside the bag in awe. It yawned. "Hey kiddo, why did youuuu…" It's already huge eyes widened even more as it saw Marinette. A few moments passed where they just silently stared at each other, mouths agape. Eventually she small creature shook his head to get out of his trance. "It's too late now to act like a doll, isn't it?" he asked with a resigned sigh and flew up to be on eye-level with her. "Hello Marinette. My name is…"

"Plagg. I know. Tikki mentioned you before" Marinette interrupted him as if someone else was controlling her body.

Plagg's jaw dropped open again while Adrien finally overcame his state of shock, hurried towards them and grabbed Plagg, laughing nervously. "Hahaha, Marinette that's kind of embarrassing, you found my… You know that's just a toy that… Wait. Who's Tikki?" _And how does she know about Kwamis, Plagg in particular?_ he added mentally. This situation freaked him out and he had no idea what was happening let alone how he should react to it.

Already opening her mouth, intending to answer his question, Marinette was stopped by a red flash that dashed towards Plagg from a hidden corner of her room. It happened too fast for Plagg to elude so he got caught up in a tight hug from Tikki, her voice even higher pitched than usual.

For the very first time since he had met him Adrien heard something like a giggle from Plagg as he snuggled up to his red companion. He didn't know which fact bewildered him more: Marinette holding a Kwami or Plagg being delighted at shown affection towards him.

And then it finally hit him.

"Wait… wait. Waitwaitwait. That would mean that you… you are…"

"Yes, Chat."

"You are… You are… I mean it would mean that you are…"

"Chaton!"

"But… You are- wait! You are…"

"Tikki, I hate to interrupt your reunion but spots on for the sake of that adorable dork" Marinette chuckled lightly with a fond smile playing around her lips.

Dumbfounded Adrien stared at Marinette. Ladybug. Who was Marinette.

She waited for him to react in any way but he just stood there, frozen. After a few moments that felt like an eternity had passed Marinette got nervous. "Minou? Could you say something?"

" _Howcanyoubesocalmrightnow_?" he squealed.

"I guess... I kind of hoped it was you…?" she admitted quietly and looked down sheepishly. It was the truth. Deep down, buried inside her heart and hidden behind realism had always been this little light of hope that, maybe, she wouldn't have to let go of her feelings for Adrien after all. That there was a reason why they wouldn't go away and why these two boys had reminded her of each other more and more with every passing day.

Finally Adrien moved, walking towards her until there were only a few inches between them. She looked at him.

"I couldn't have wished for this in my wildest dreams" Adrien whispered under his breath and gently took her face into his hands. "You have no idea how badly I've wanted to do this all day long" he said under his breath and, finally, kissed her.

When their lips touched shyly and soft it caused both their hearts to first skip a beat before pounding intensely inside their chests. While Adrien got dizzy with happiness Marinette somehow managed to mumble the words that caused Tikki to transform her back against his lips. Everywhere his fingertips brushed some of her skin it felt like he caused a fire beneath it while every time her fingers touched his skin it sent waves of electricity through her body.

"I'm so happy right now" Marinette whispered after drawing back slightly and nuzzled his nose with her own, a lovestruck smile on her face. Chuckling Adrien leaned in so their foreheads touched, locking his eyes with hers.

"Me too, Princess. I can't even put into words how happy you make me."

Neither of them realized how long they were standing there just dumbly smiling at each other until suddenly Marinette remembered something and drew back.

"Oh wait, I've got a present for you!" she exclaimed excitedly and rummaged through her drawer while Adrien watched her delightedly.

"But you were not allowed to prepare a gift for me! It's an official rule of Secret Santa Marinette Style™, remember?" he teased her, letting his Chat Noir persona take over.

"I didn't know it was you, remember?" she responded just as feisty without bothering to even look at him.

"Oh yeah, I guess you didn't break a rule then. But I totally did!" With a huge cheeky grin he proudly handed her a small package wrapped in pink at the same time Marinette gave him a small, light green box.

"You dishonored my baby!" she yelled playfully dramatic and threw her present at him, aiming right for his head. Effortlessly he caught the soft bundle before it hit his face and walked up to Marinette to put his arms around her.

"I wanted to give you something special. And _Chat Noir_ did not participate so… it's absolutely fine and doesn't break any rules" he decided with a roguish grin.

"I guess" she answered resigned, trying to hide her smile. Before she could come up with any new arguments (and also because he really wanted to) Adrien cupped her face with his hands and kissed her again. It was still overwhelming and incomparable to anything either of them had ever experienced but they didn't get lost in the moment as much as the last time.

"Now open it!" Adrien demanded impatiently and she began to laugh. Since she really wanted to know what was inside the package she ripped the paper apart instead of teasing and keeping him in suspense further.

Astonished she stared at the present for a moment before her face lit up and she eagerly turned to face Adrien. "Oh my god! This is… open yours!"

As soon as he'd opened his present a similar glowing expression appeared on Adrien's features as well. "We are meant for each other. That's the _purr_ fect _purr_ esent, _Purr_ incess" he cooed into her ear and Marinette had to fight the urge to smack his arm and to cover his silly face with kisses at the same time.

"You're not even in costume right now" she complained and he grinned at her devilishly.

"You have to deal with the Chat Noir inside of me all the time now."

She leaned towards him, mimicking his sassy grin. "I guess I can only just live with this."

And with that she decided to give in to the urge to kiss her silly kitty.

"But… you know Umbrion's details aren't green but ye-"

"It's shiny, ok?" she interrupted him. "And, I mean… Do you really think Skitty looks like _this_?" she held up the quirky sock plush he had made for her with an amused smile. He smirked.

"But you still love it."

She beamed at him. "I do indeed."

"Merry Christmas, my Lady."

"Merry Christmas, Minou."


End file.
